Zen Dochterman						              Office Hours: Porter, Hungry 
Section Notes						                	 Slug 2pm-3pm, Wednesdays. 
January 16, 2002                     zendochterman@hotmail.com		
		

Sociology of Death and Dying, Zen's Section


"Society was not constructed, as Aristotle says, for the sake of life and more life, but from defect, from death and the flight from death, from fear of separation and fear of individualityƒthere are no social groups without a religion of their own immortality, and history making is always the quest for group-immortality. Only an unrepressed humanity, strong enough to live-and-die, could let Eros seek union and let death keep separateness." --Norman O. Brown, Life Against Death.

In this section, I hope that we can generate interesting, creative approaches to the readings and lectures as well as an open, energetic group dynamic. In so doing, we can come to a better understanding of the way in which our own attitudes towards death and dying have been shaped by historical, cultural, technological, institutional, and psychological factors, and gain more appreciation for cultural perspectives different than our own.

Information & Reminders

Internet Site https://members.tripod.com/Altjeringa/sociology.html
I have started and will be updating an internet site throughout the quarter. While it is not required to view the website, it does provide a list of links, reading notes, and questions that will be helpful in a number of ways. The site will help you to prepare for section (as I will often post section activities the day before), to examine the readings (through notes and questions that I post), and to write your papers (through links to death and dying resources on the web). Additionally, if there is interest, we can start a section discussion site, to explore issues raised by section away from the classroom, or raise concerns not covered in the class. If anyone would like to access the site, but does not know how to use the internet, I will be happy to show them after class or section. (It only takes about 5 minutes to learn)